The Semiotic Landscape in Nuuk, Greenland

• Main Authors: Valijarvi, R, Kahn, L
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Foundation for Endangered Languages 2018
• Subjects: Greenland; Nuuk; greenlandic
• Online Access: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10061157/7/Valijarvi%20Semiotic%20landscape%20in%20Nuuk%20FEL%202017__paper.pdf; https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10061157/

This paper explores the semiotic landscape in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. The connection between images and choice of language in both public and private signs is analysed in relation to the function of the signs, Greenlandic culture, history and politics, and the space where the signs, notices, and advertisements are displayed. The data was collected in May 2017. The focus is on signs depicting the sun, polar bears, and people. The use of the images and the choice of languages reveals centralising, reclaiming, localising or even transgressive tendencies in the civic frame, the school system, the community, the marketplace, and on the walls of social housing. The data also shows the importance of English in the global marketplace (tourism and shipping), the tertiary education system, and graffiti. The Greenlandic language is firmly in the centre in almost all contexts, but Danish appears in the civic and community frames and in the marketplace for practical reasons.